Middle-earth: Shadow of War - How to get Epic and Legendary Orcs

While any old Orc will get the job done in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Epic and Legendary Orcs both have traits that make them much heartier combatants. You can only recruit Orcs up to your current level, so if your current crop isn't cutting it, replacing or adding some Epic and Legendary Orcs to your armies is a great way to give you the extra boost you need to assault or defend fortresses.

There are several ways to get higher-tier Orcs, some of them more reliable than others, and we've put together the various methods of recruiting these powerful soldiers below.

Get Epic and Legendary Orcs through domination

This one is a no-brainer. As you adventure through Mordor, you're going to run into a ton of Orc Captains, and some of them will be Epic or Legendary. What rarity Orcs spawn at is out of your hands, but it's worth tracking down these warriors and claiming them as your own.

Most of the time higher tier Orcs will have some immunities and strengths that your run of the mill captains don't. When hunting an Epic or Legendary Orc, it's worth tracking down a Worm to find out more information on your target so you can be prepared. For example, if you're a player that prefers to fight from range, it's definitely a good thing to know if an Orc is immune to arrows.

This is the cheapest way to get Orcs, and it's not too hard, but you also can't predict when an Epic or Legendary Orc will spawn. You can hack and slash through the regular captains in an area and wait until more rise to take their place, but there's no guarantee one will be the Orc you're looking for.

Get Epic and Legendary Orcs by buying chests

By using Shadow of War's marketplace you can be sure that you'll get Epic and Legendary Orcs, but you'll have to pay for it. For 1,500 Mirian you can get a Silver War Chest, which guarantees at least one Epic Orc and an additional Orc of standard level or higher. Of course, there is the possibility you can get a Legendary Orc in a Silver War Chest, but it's random.

The only way to guarantee a Legendary Orc Follower is by buying the Gold and Mithril War Chests. Gold War Chests will give at least one Legendary and two Epic Orcs while the Mithril War Chest will provide you with four Legendaries every time. These two chests can't be bought with Mirian though. Instead, you'll have to use the Gold premium currency to purchase them.

It's also possible to get high tier Orcs from Spoils of War Chests which you can get for accruing Spoils of War points. You can get these points by taking part in online sieges, vendetta missions, and challenges. The advantage of grinding for these is that they don't cost Mirian or Gold and you can use Spoils of War boosters to double the amount you earn with each quest.

Force Epic and Legendary Orcs to spawn by dying

Any regular Orc soldier that kills you during Shadow of War gets promoted to an Orc Captain. When that happens, they're assigned a title and get their personality traits. When you get further through the game and have some time to get picky about your Orcs, you can influence what type of Orc you get by merely dying at the right time to the right enemy.

If you want an Archer Captain, die to an archer. If a Defender Captain is more to your liking, you can die to one of the shield wielders. Location matters too, because that determines the tribe your new captain will be a part of. To learn which tribe rules an area, look around at the banners and aesthetic of the buildings that way you can make sure your soon-to-be new buddy will look how you want and have the abilities specific to the tribe of your choosing.

Now all you have to do is die. That sounds easier than it actually is because your objective is to be killed by a particular kind of Orc. You rarely encounter lone Orcs, so it's easy to accidentally have the wrong one make the killing blow. You can always try over though, so don't get discouraged if you end up with a dud.

Once the Orc of your choice kills you, it's in the hands of the Random Numbers Generator. First, there's a good chance the Orc that took you out will spawn as just a regular old Orc Captain. Secondly, if the Orc in promoted in a region with no empty spots for new Orcs, they'll duel someone for their place. This can either end up in your brand-new dream Orc being killed, or one of your other favorite Orcs in the region being murdered.

However, if everything goes right, and you've cleared out a spot in advance for your new Orc, you can get an Epic or Legendary Orc Captain to spawn precisely how you want them to be. This method is incredibly frustrating, but it's the only way to exert any influence over what kind of Orcs spawn.